Blue Devils put end to Wharton jinx, take down Maroons on road for first time since 2017

MOLINE, Ill. — Dom Clay didn’t try to hide what this one meant.

As the final seconds ticked away on Tuesday night’s 71-56 Western Big 6 Conference victory over the Moline boys basketball team at Wharton Field House, the Quincy High School senior guard stood near midcourt pumping his right arm in celebration.

“​​It was a really big game for us as a team, but also a really big win for Coach Douglas,” Clay said.

The way each of the Blue Devils hugged QHS coach Andy Douglas showed that.

This was top-ranked Quincy’s first victory at Wharton Field House since the 2016-17 season, ending a seven-game road losing streak in what has felt like a house of horrors. The last victory was a 47-42 decision on Jan. 20, 2017 as Douglas won his first three trips to Moline before enduring the skid.

“It was great,” Quincy senior guard Bradley Longcor III said of snapping the losing streak at Wharton Field House. “To finally get a win there was big, but I thought the work that we put in at practice showed, and we executed our game plan to perfection.”

They did so at an optimal time.

“The stakes were big,” Douglas said. “You’re competing for first in the conference with another big one coming up Friday (against Rock Island). So all things considered, it was an important game and we played like it.”

It was that way right from the start.

Quincy (16-1, 6-0 WB6) made its first three shots as Clay sandwiched a pair of 3-pointers around a Mark Louthan 3-pointer, and went 5 of 6 from 3-point range in building a 19-10 lead by the end of the first quarter. The advantage grew to as many as 14 points in the second quarter and the Blue Devils went to halftime ahead 32-20.

“The thing we’ve been on the guys about more than anything is offensive execution,” Douglas said. “We’ve got a group that can get their shot quite often when they want, but we have to make sure we’re scoring through the offense, which is the most consistent way to put the ball through the rim.”

The defensive execution was nearly as special. Only two Maroons scored in the first half with senior forward Braden Freeman scoring 17 points.

“I would say just our energy out the gate was key,” Longcor said. “We gotta come out every game like that, and I’m not just talking about knocking down shots. I’m talking about communication on ‘D’ and knowing the game plan.”

The game plan included weathering a storm.

The Maroons (15-4, 4-2 WB6) opened the second half on a 9-2 run, forcing Douglas to call a timeout with 4:07 remaining in the third quarter. The whole point in burning the timeout was to settle his team down, something the players were trying to do themselves.

“Before I could get the words out, Kamren Wires got them out for me and said, ‘This is a game of runs. We’re good. We’re good,’” Douglas said. “That’s exactly what I was going to say. (Moline) played well and made a nice little run, but it was our turn to make a run.”

Leading 36-33, Clay buried a 3-pointer from the left corner off a Keshaun Thomas assist. Wires grabbed an offensive rebound on Quincy’s next possession and fed Clay for another 3-pointer from the top of the key. A Longcor 3-pointer and scoop shot kept the run going as Quincy closed the third quarter on a 13-3 blitz.

Clay finished with 21 points, having made four 3-pointers, while Longcor scored 13.

“I thought we did a fine job handling the ball,” said Longcor, who passed Jeff Klingler for third in all-time scoring at QHS and has 1,656 career points. “But I thought what sparked it was our composure. We never freaked out or anything, and we ran our offense through and made plays.”

Defense did the rest, forcing the Maroons to turn the ball over three times in that pivotal stretch of the third quarter and holding Moline to two field goals over the first 11 possessions of the fourth quarter.

“From the beginning, we all had assignments and we all excelled in those ways — closing gaps, making our own energy and staying locked in all four quarters,” Clay said.

That will have to be the case Friday night when Rock Island (17-1, 6-0 WB6) comes to Blue Devil Gym with first place in the league on the line.

“There’s not much time to celebrate on a Tuesday night,” Douglas said. “You have to be back to school on time and engaged in the classroom tomorrow and get to work on Rocky after that.”